Exploiting Technology

The RLC Photographic Competition is open to regular and reserve RLC soldiers and officers and RLC affiliated army cadets. The competition offers the opportunity for personnel to capture the wide variety of job roles and environments that The RLC currently operates and trains in. It not only encourages and develops budding photographers, but also showcases the very best of what the Corps has done over the last 12 months; all whilst building up an archive of good quality stock images to replace the very outdated one.

Entries for 2022 can be submitted into the following six categories: The New Normal, RLC Equipment and Trades in action, Soldiering, Interoperability, Sport/AT and Person or People (portraiture and selfies).

The judges, made up of a panel from within the Corps HQ (including

The RLC Photographic Competition 2022

a senior member of the RLC’s Army Photographer trade), will select two amateur-taken ‘best' images in each subject category. The RLC’s Professional Army Photographers are invited to submit RLC related portrait images for any category. The overall winning professional entry will appear on the front cover of the March 2023 edition of The Sustainer. The best two images from each category will be published on the centre spread of The Sustainer.

Closing date for entries is 9 December 2022 with the winners announced in January 2023.

For more information and details of where to enter, visit The RLC Defence Connect page or email: rlcsustainer@gmail.com

HQ BFPO ROLLS OUT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES

By Capt Chez Chester

It has been a busy time for HQ BFPO’s Technical Support Services (TSS) team. It has been involved in a multitude of activities, ranging from upgrading the BFPO PACER system to providing wider support to Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S). The original PACER system sat on Windows 7, this is now being migrated to Windows 10 at all BFPO locations worldwide. With COVID-19 restrictions on travel lifting, the team was finally able to continue the rollout.

This has seen members of the team travel to Kathmandu and BATUS and everywhere in-between. The project is now 75% complete and we hope to have all BFPO locations upgraded by the end of 2022. Supporting DE&S at short notice, WO2 John (Systems Analyst) and Sgt Penu (Postal & Courier Op) deployed to HMNB Clyde to deliver an urgent requirement to migrate legacy LogIS equipment to MODNet for the Future Maritime Support Programme. For their invaluable efforts, they were awarded a 2-star commendation by Director LSOC.

There has been a complete technical refresh of the Service Management toolset and the phone call distribution system used by the BFPO Service Desk. Sgt Prophet (Postal & Courier Op) led on the migration from the old system (Hardcat) to the new Cherwell system. Migration also required a 100% physical check of all assets in BFPO, DMC’s and deployed locations worldwide. Cherwell has greatly increased the productivity and effectiveness of the TSS department allowing BFPO to create and manipulate its own dashboards, providing greater flexibility, with users being able to uniquely tailor the system to their role whilst retaining the wider collaboration functionality. This has enabled better management and collection of call traffic data, automatically format reports and provide real time systems administration.

Sgt Penu has also designed a new BFPO Web Portal from the ground up, enabling TSS the facility to remote work from any computer on technical queries. Building on the portal success he is also developing a new FPO and customer care online reporting tool, enabling users and customers to track in real time their BFPO enquiries. TSS also project managed the upgrade of BFPO’s conference facilities, delivering a more effective and efficient means of communication and interaction, through a combination of high-quality audio and video equipment.

‘‘RLC Corps Open Day was back bigger and better than ever. I am most grateful to CO 29 Regt and the team for the excellent real-life support provided and to all contributors to the event – the Heads of Trade did an excellent job showcasing the niche areas of the Corps

The Colonel RLC

With the weather changing and the shortening days indicating that summer is now behind us, we move on to the inevitable hard yards of the autumn term. I trust that everybody managed to get some leave, or if committed to duties, will catch up over the next few weeks. To those that are deployed, we are grateful for your service and look forward to your safe return.

Summer has been an intensely busy period for the RHQ with plentiful public engagement and RLC events confirming we are truly back to normal and learning quickly how to best serve the Corps in our new home. The RLC Cocktail Party was delivered at Worthy Down and we welcomed members of the wider Corps Family, industry partners and sports sponsors, as well as fostering new relationships with key members of the local community. This was closely followed by The RLC Sports Awards – a superb celebration of sporting excellence. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the Regimental Secretariat for making the occasion so special and it is a testament to the energy and creativity of Mr Richard Stockman (Asst Regt Sec) that the Awards has outgrown its current location. The Corps Sergeant Major is shortly to recce alternative venues where we could potentially hold the 2023 event, to ensure that as many people as possible can attend. RLC Corps Open Day was back bigger and better than ever. I am most grateful to CO 29 Regt and the team for the excellent real-life support provided and to all contributors to the event –the Heads of Trade did an excellent job showcasing the niche areas of the Corps.

You will have seen the concerted effort to promote the Day’s Pay Scheme and I thank the 150+ personnel that attended the

Association Trust AGM, in person and online. This was a record number of attendees, showing just how many of the Corps Family are engaged in this. The RLC Media team has produced an excellent short video on the Day’s Pay Scheme. High resolution copies are available from RHQ Media for unit briefing if required. Concurrent to the work on the Day’s Pay Scheme, has been leveraging funds from the RLC Assn Trust to alleviate additional hardship due to the cost of living crisis. Additional funds have been dispersed to unit COs, the Benevolence Team at RHQ and the Veterans Charity for rapid relief. MGL wrote publicly to all members of the Corps Family outlining the scheme. A copy can be found on Corps Social Media. Likewise, under the leadership of the Corps Sergeant Major and the RHQ Welfare Team, 40 families from across The RLC (regular and reserve) were able to enjoy a short holiday at no cost to them. We will continue to seek initiatives to alleviate hardship for all the Corps Family.

And finally, exciting news about RLC30. After a couple of false starts, I can confirm the date will be Thu 1 Jun 23. Slightly later than the actual 30th anniversary, but this date has deliberately been chosen to take advantage of (hopefully) the better weather but more importantly the early summer bank holiday and half term week to capture as many families as possible. The event is significant not just to mark 30 years of The RLC, but also our first large scale opportunity to engage with the local community in our new home and to build and maintain excellent relationships for future generations. Formal orders will be issued shortly, but the event will consist of a march past, a service of thanksgiving, a reception and Corps Open Day in Worthy Down. It is my intent to have the whole Corps Family parade: cadets, regulars, reserves and a veteran’s contingent. Please clear diaries now and should anybody wish to volunteer to be part of the planning committee, please contact Lt Col Rob Williams (CO 165 Regt) who has volunteered to be Chief of Staff of the planning committee.

We Sustain.